Dollar's Loss Is Gold's Gain

The gold price was off to the races again this week, climbing on healthier stock markets and good news out of the European Central Bank.

A partnership between Barrick Gold (TSX:ABX,NYSE:ABX) and Chile's Antofagasta (LSE:ANTO) to develop a $3.3-billion copper-gold mine in Pakistan has been rejected. Reuters reported that the joint venture to develop Reko Diq mine was declared invalid by Pakistan's top court. The crux of the problem comes down to the Pakistani provincial government of Baluchistan, which refused to convert an exploration permit into a mining license, Reuters said.

Goldcorp (TSX:G,NYSE:GG) hiked its dividend 11 percent on Monday (60 cents per share) and forecast a 10-percent increase in gold production this year to between 2.55 and 2.8 million ounces. Vancouver-based Goldcorp also said that it will begin reporting "all-in" cash costs, which include, among other things, general and administrative (G&A) expenses and exploration costs, rather than only the direct costs involved in mining and selling gold ore. For 2013, that means Goldcorp expects costs to be in the range of $1,000 to $1,100 an ounce.

Yamana Gold (TSX:YRI,NYSE:AUY) said it expects a 20-percent increase in production this year, to between 1.44 and 1.60 million ounces, and a 33-percent increase from 2012 levels in 2014. Latin America-focused Yamana said the higher gold output will be due to a full year of production at its Mercedes mine, the ramp up of the expansion project at Minera Florida, the ramp up of production at Ernesto/Pau-a-Pique and C1 Santa Luz and the start up of production at Pilar.

ABC News reported that the St. Barbara's Southern Cross mine in Western Australia has been sold to a Chinese company. The mine, which halted operations in December, was sold to Hanking Gold Mining for $22.5 million.

New York- and Toronto-listed McEwen Mining (NYSE:MUX,TSX:MUX) said first gold was poured on January 1 at El Gallo Phase 1 in Sinaloa State, Mexico. The news caused MUX to float to $3.95 in New York on Thursday, below its 52-week high of $6.17.